Pick-up trucks are very common vehicles used throughout the world for transporting items from one location to another. These vehicles are manufactured by several US and Asian companies, but primarily by Ford, Chevrolet (GM), Dodge, and Toyota.
Pick-up trucks typically have a cargo area behind the cab of the truck. The cargo area is a flat bed that rests on the truck frame, and has sides running the length of the truck bed, and also a side running the width of the truck cab, adjacent to the cab. The back side of the truck bed has a pivoting tail gate that can be lowered to a horizontal position for loading and unloading cargo. When the tailgate is in the upright vertical position, it joins the other 3 sides and truck bed to form an open top box that can be used to carry cargo.
The problem with this system is that the cargo box is quite large on most pick-up trucks, so small items can slide around when the vehicle starts, stops, or turns. Also, the bed of the pick-up truck is typically slanted towards the cab of the truck when there is a small or light load, which makes objects even more prone to shifting forward when the truck stops. Larger items can be tied or strapped down to keep them from shifting, but small items can be difficult to secure. Also, many pick-up trucks do not have any features such as hooks within the truck bed that be used to tie a rope or strap.
Whenever a truck accelerates, slows, or turns, the contents of the truck box will tend to move around. The most common situation that occurs is when a truck is forced to stop quickly, and all the contents of the truck box will shift forward. If the stop is exceptionally quick, the contents can shift forward violently causing them to crash into the front of the truck box causing damage to the box or cargo.
One way to reduce this shifting of cargo would be to have a containment system that is unable to move when acted upon by directional or acceleration forces.
The present invention utilizes the end of the truck bed to keep the device from sliding forward when the vehicle stops, and the bottom of the tailgate to keep the load from moving side to side. The portion that engages the tailgate also prevents the entire device from rolling over during a very sharp turn.
Additional features may also be added to the front base portion such as a containment vessel that is either shaped like a box, or shaped like the specific item meant to be held in place, such as a chainsaw. Also, the base portion can contain a grid pattern of holes meant to accept removable pins. These removable pins can be placed to make a custom arrangement to follow the contour of a specific item.